4. Discussion

From our results, we found out that the effects of radiation are harmful.

Explanation of Key Findings:

(1)We found out one of the seed coats in the setups had mould growing on it (Setup 9). We infer that it could be a sign of radiation that could have caused the mould to die. - When nuclear reactions get going, they spit out particles with enough energy to rip electrons off of atoms or molecules -(Jamie C.,2012)

(2)Radiation can affect in many different ways, not always in a negative way. We can infer that as the growth rate for some increased/decreased/increased and decreased drastically.(3)We can also infer as when food is microwaved it can warp the DNA of the food, this can be shown as some of the seeds did not germinate at all and this might be true as when the seeds took in the microwave water the DNA could have warped in such a way that it could not germinate

Evaluation of Hypothesis:

(1)This result is linked to the hypothesis as the seed coat gives the seed nutrients and if it is affected positively/negatively, the result of the germination speed and result would be greatly differed.(2)This result is linked to the hypothesis as radiation could help plants to grow better and this could be a big breakthrough and it would not be what the prototyped "radiation is bad". Any normal person you know might think that radiation is bad but in our results, the radiation showed to have helped the growth rate even though its quite abnormal.(3)The DNA would affect the way the seeds grow and therefore affect their growth rate, which will help to decide whether our hypothesis was correct or wrong.

How we could improve the experiment:

(1&3)We could improve the experiment by giving the plants bigger amounts of radiation so that we can see the difference.(2)We could improve the experiment by measuring more values such that we have more evidence to prove that radiation does affect the plant positively/negatively.